


Frayed Edges

by Kireii-yume (kireii_yume)



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, I'm tagging as that just to be careful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9445943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireii_yume/pseuds/Kireii-yume
Summary: Robin's relationship with Chrom was never built on love...and that was why it couldn't live.Inspired by a couplepromptsby @curlyfry-shepard on tumblr





	

**Author's Note:**

> This requires some explanation.
> 
> So, I have always disliked Chrobin, not because of the character interactions, but because of how forced it was. With any other character you can choose to S-support, but with Chrom, his default path with a female MU will end in marriage, with no choice on the player's part. I felt like it was a shitty foundation for a relationship. So this happened.
> 
> I'm calling this an abuse TW because while it definitely isn't heavy on the emotional abuse end and has no physical abuse, it could be hard for people regardless.

It had become clear long, long ago that this needed to be over.

Robin had looked at the relationship from every possible angle. And no matter how she strategized and added everything up, she couldn’t deal with it. Chrom was wrong for her. Whenever she was with him, she just looked forward to her time alone. She started to fear him when he stormed out of his office, because more often than not he’d repress his frustration because he was now the king and he had to live up to Emmeryn. He had so many burdens and all Robin wanted to do was help. But one wrong step could have Chrom lashing out at Robin, berating her, insisting that she leave this to him and stop disturbing him. Sometimes he’d shower her with affection, but it never seemed to make up for the times that he shoved her away. Of course, Chrom never laid a finger on her, he never would. But no matter how many times he hurt her feelings, he never _really_ apologized. 

Of course, there was never really love in the marriage. It hadn’t been borne of love. During a turbulent battle, Chrom had decided that the kingdom needed an heir. He’d come up to Robin after battle was done and proposed to her, professing his love and insisting that this union was what was best for the kingdom. To this day, Robin hadn’t been able to figure out if the proposal really was fueled by love, as Chrom said, or if desperation had managed to disguise itself as infatuation. Either way, against her better judgment, Robin had said yes. It felt awkward. The marriage felt wrong, their first night together felt wrong. Nothing felt right, but it was what was best for the kingdom. And somehow along the way, Robin had convinced herself she loved him, twisted platonic love into something more until she could justify her own misery, until the “I love you”s didn’t feel as much like lies. 

And then there was what happened with Validar.

Chrom had lived through Robin’s attempt to kill him. Or rather, Validar’s attempt to kill him. Just barely, he’d lived. Somehow, after the flashbacks and the hints, Robin had realized what was going on and lightened the energy just enough to let him live. Sure, she’d considered confessing what she learned to Chrom, but it felt like there was enough wrong with what was between them without this. And her plan had succeeded. Chrom lived. But the scars would never go away, and something told Robin that Chrom never fully trusted her after that. He always asked, “If you knew that something was wrong, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you stop?” Their relationship was already strained because of Chrom’s hurried proposal, but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Robin almost killing Chrom had almost killed their relationship. And it was always how their arguments ended nowadays. They’d be shouting at each other, and at some point Chrom would say something, in the heat of anger, like “At least I didn’t stab my own husband!” It never failed to shut Robin up. 

It also never failed to bring tears to her eyes. But those tears always came behind closed doors. Chrom didn’t need to know. 

Robin had wanted to leave soon after that incident, because in her tactician’s mind, she knew. She knew that there was no way that this could work. But it was like she was addicted to Chrom’s presence—she couldn’t seem to bear to be separated from him. Even after she began to shake that feeling, new reasons appeared for her to stay. She felt awful that Chrom had so many problems—because the injury she gave him never fully healed, he’d have bursts of pain at times, and his physical condition wasn’t what it once was. On top of that, when they’d finally managed to conceive an heir to the throne, Robin had miscarried. She barely lived, but the incident left her barren. Chrom couldn’t have any natural heirs, and Robin firmly believed that it was her fault. So it was Robin’s duty to help him. Besides, she wasn’t faultless—his harsh words were often combatted by ones of her own that she regretted afterward. Robin was not just a victim. And Chrom needed support. He couldn’t go on without her, and who was she to doom the ruler of her kingdom to utter unhappiness? Her happiness was a small price to pay, she thought, for Chrom’s. 

That was months ago, back when she didn’t end each day with an aching heart as she looked at the person who now felt like a stranger in her bed. The guilt was ready to stifle her, and the emotional pain was starting to wear on her. Even the good times now caused Robin fear, because she always knew that they were temporary, that soon Chrom would return to his former state. Each night she’d have trouble falling asleep because of the pit in her stomach and the emptiness in her chest. And each morning she had more and more trouble finding a reason to get out of bed. It was starting to take genuine effort to remember the last time she was happy, or even the last day she had gone without tears. But each time she wanted to leave, she was reminded that if she left, the kingdom would be left queenless. At the very least, she’d be disgraced, and at worst, the already fragile kingdom would fall apart. 

So as the sun started to cast light on her bed, illuminating motes of dust that floated languidly through the air, Robin forced herself to stand and dress. Chrom started to stir as well, moving through the room without so much as acknowledging her presence. A knot formed in Robin’s throat, making swallowing painful as her heart started to ache again. Just as she thought she was getting used to it, the pain would renew itself. It was exhausting, but Robin was learning to move on. 

“I have a meeting today,” Chrom said. Robin nodded numbly, throwing on her tactician’s robes and beginning to leave. “I won’t see you.” 

“Alright,” Robin replied. Normally, tears would well up in her eyes at yet another display of the loveless marriage she was trapped in, but today it felt like she had dried up, like she’d run out of tears to cry. “I was going to go for a ride anyway.” 

“Stay safe,” Chrom murmured as he went out the door, but the tone of his voice was preoccupied and uncaring, as if he was reading from a script rather than talking to his wife. The woman _he_ had insisted on marrying. This was wrong. Something had to change. And suddenly, instead of depression, rage rose up in Robin’s chest as she readied herself to speak words that she had needed to for so long. 

“Chrom!” she called after him. He didn’t turn around, though he had to have heard her. “Chrom!” This time, he turned, exasperated. 

“I’m very busy, what do you need?” 

“I need to be done with this relationship.” The words came out calmly, but everything in Robin was screaming for her to stop. Though it had to happen, her courage had deserted her in her time of need, and now all she wanted to do was apologize and run back into his cold, necessitated embrace, just because some part of her insisted that being in a loveless marriage was better than being alone. 

“What?” Chrom looked stunned. 

“We don’t work together. Neither of us are happy.” Robin’s voice started to shake, as did her hands, but she soldiered on. _This has to happen. It has to happen._ For a moment, there was utter silence as Chrom glared at her. 

“I thought you loved me,” he said. His voice was steely and cold as he stared. Robin shook her head, the tears finally beginning to well in her eyes. 

“You’ve hurt me. Day after day, you’ve hurt me. I haven’t been happy for months. I can’t possibly love you anymore.” 

“Fine,” Chrom spat. “Don’t expect to be welcomed in Ylisse anymore.” 

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Robin told him. 

“Get out. Now.” Robin walked out of his room, calmly, quietly. She mounted her horse with an air of utter tranquility. Guards stared at her and normally it would make her stop but she was stone, she was unfeeling, she could ignore the fact that she’d be hated by everyone who knew Chrom. As she rode away, she held her head high, no matter who saw her. She would be beautiful and dignified and perfect during her last presence as queen.

So it wasn’t until she was deep into the forest that she allowed herself to finally be wracked with sobs.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [](http://kireii-yume.tumblr.com>blog</a>%20to%20send%20in%20requests%20for%20fics%20and%20headcanons!)


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